Burton: Mahon 'paints a picture of corruption endemic in politics'
Referring to “considerable public and political unease” about the fact that Denis O’Brien “has continued to pop up at various public events, most recently at the New York Stock Exchange” (alongside Taoiseach Enda Kenny), Minster for Social Protection Joan Burton told the Dáil today that “It is perhaps time for the Government to reflect on how it should in future interact with people against whom adverse findings have been made by tribunals.”
She also said, “We do not want to return to the days of, ‘uno Duce, una voce’, the immortal phrase which the former Fianna Fáil press secretary P.J. Mara, used to describe Charles Haughey, nor do we want a Berlusconi style media-political complex with its attendant codes of omertà undermining the principles of transparent democracy.”
She also described the lasting effects of planning corruption in Co Dublin, saying:
"Communities paid on the double under the Fianna Fáil regime for sites for schools and other infrastructure. The developers picked up the options on sites that would become schools for next to nothing. The land was then rezoned and by the time the school site was purchased the price had risen to more than €500,000 per acre. In many of the schools in Dublin West, children are urged to walk during play time because there is no space for playing and running. That is the price the children of developed areas around County Dublin, including my constituency, continue to pay."
Read the full text of Burton’s statement on the Mahon tribunal below.
The Mahon tribunal paints a picture of corruption and abuse of power endemic in politics, primarily in Fianna Fáil. The tribunal found that former Fianna Fáil Taoiseach Bertie Ahern had been untruthful, that former EU Commissioner and Fianna Fáil Minister Pádraig Flynn was corrupt, that former Fianna Fáil Taoiseach Albert Reynolds abused power, that former Fianna Fáil member Liam Lawlor abused his role as a public representative, that former Fianna Fáil Government press secretary Frank Dunlop made corrupt payments for developers to secure planning, and that the Cork-based developer Owen O’Callaghan made or authorised corrupt payments to politicians for their support.
While the picture painted by the Mahon tribunal is shocking, it is not surprising to anyone who sat on the old Dublin County Council as I did in the early 1990s. It merely confirms what I and many other Labour members of the council, including our leader, Frank Buckley, Eithne Fitzgerald and Mervyn Taylor, suspected at the time.
People such as the Frank Buckley, Eithne Fitzgerald and Mervyn Taylor had suspicions at the time. It will not come as a surprise to the journalists who covered the carry on in Dublin County Council and elsewhere during that period. I now know why the Labour Party did not succeed in preventing the planning disaster that to this day leaves certain communities bereft of the facilities they paid for when they purchased or rented their houses. It was because greedy developers sought to corrupt greedy politicians and because greedy politicians, mainly from Fianna Fáil, sought to extort brown paper envelopes from developers. The result was poor planning and devastated communities.
These communities paid on the double under the Fianna Fáil regime for sites for schools and other infrastructure. The developers picked up the options on sites that would become schools for next to nothing. The land was then rezoned and by the time the school site was purchased the price had risen to more than €500,000 per acre. In many of the schools in Dublin West, children are urged to walk during play time because there is no space for playing and running. That is the price the children of developed areas around County Dublin, including my constituency, continue to pay.
The Mahon report shows that money is the biggest persuader. This is why Labour Party councillors were not successful in their argument for proper planning. Development was inevitable as the city grew but the question was how to strike the balance in order to reap a social dividend for those who bought or rented houses in the new areas.
The Mahon report is only one of many reports which have uncovered dodgy dealings at the interface between business and politics. Some of these reports merely confirmed what was already reported by journalists, several of whom have been silenced as a result of libel threats from powerful people anxious to avoid a media spotlight on their secretive dealings. I know a bit about this because I have been threatened with 42 libel actions. The purpose of these threats was to threaten, silence and cost journalists and people like me. As Deputy O’Dea will be aware, even replying to their demands cost several hundred pounds. Sometimes people can be blasé about the exercise of limitations to freedom of expression.
In 1974, Joe McAnthony reported in the Sunday Independent that Ray Burke, then a newly elected Fianna Fáil Deputy, had received £15,000 for his role in rezoning certain lands in Swords. However, Mr. Burke was not forced to resign until 1997 and it was not until 2002 that the Flood tribunal found that he had received corrupt payments from developers and others. He eventually served time in prison for tax offences.
Reports by journalists such as Matt Cooper, Cliff Taylor, Frank Connolly, Frank McDonald, Mark Brannock and Sam Smyth on payments to politicians were in many cases roundly denied by the alleged donors and beneficiaries. The McCracken tribunal, the Flood tribunal, the Moriarty tribunal and, now, the Mahon tribunal found that in many cases there was a sound basis for these reports. This is not to ignore that the vast majority of politicians from all parties and none are absolutely honest in their dealings. The people named in these reports have damaged the good name of politics in Ireland. A certain few of those named and shamed eventually served jail time but many others returned to business as usual without suffering serious consequences. It outrages ordinary citizens to see successive scandals being uncovered at enormous taxpayer expense and the same characters and plot lines popping up repeatedly.
The Moriarty tribunal was established in 1997 to investigate the financial affairs of the former Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, and the former Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, Deputy Lowry. The tribunal’s final report, which was published last year, detailed the investigation into possible links between a businessman, Denis O’Brien, and Deputy Lowry, who awarded the second mobile telephone licence to Mr. O’Brien’s consortium in 1995.
The report stated: “it is beyond doubt that…Mr. Lowry imparted substantive information to Mr. O’Brien, of significant value and assistance to him in securing the licence.” The report also found that Mr. O’Brien made or facilitated payments to Mr. Lowry of a combined STG£447,000 and support for a loan of £420,000. The Taoiseach stated at the time of the report’s publication that the tribunal had found seriously and serially against Deputy Lowry and others who are major players in Irish business and public life. He rightly referred the report to the Garda Commissioner, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Revenue Commissioners.
There has been considerable public and political unease about the fact that Mr. O’Brien has continued to pop up at various public events, most recently at the New York Stock Exchange. However, the Taoiseach was invited to attend that stock exchange event. The organisers of the event not the Office of the Taoiseach decided who was on the balcony for the bell ringing ceremony. It is perhaps time for the Government to reflect on how it should in future interact with people against whom adverse findings have been made by tribunals.
We do not want to return to the days of, “uno Duce, una voce“, the immortal phrase which the former Fianna Fáil press secretary P.J. Mara, himself a tribunal veteran, used to describe Charles Haughey, nor do we want a Burlusconi style media-political complex with its attendant codes of omertà undermining the principles of transparent democracy. In this regard I welcome the statement by my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, on the introduction of legislation to deal with the registration of lobbyists, ethics for public representatives and office holders and transparency in public life. We should look back to the 1830s in the United Kingdom and the great reform Acts which were introduced to clean up politics and end the rotten boroughs for election to Parliament.
We live in a Republic and the representation of each citizen should be what counts rather than the amount of money a particular citizen can spend. We can look forward to a period of reform in which this Government will change the political landscape and our capacity to report and hold to account lobbyists.
The Ten Commandments prohibited murder and envy but they did not put an end to sin. Similarly, this House needs to legislate for transparency and accountability from all elected representatives and office holders. {jathumbnailoff}
Image top: The Labour Party.